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The Rankine cycle is commonly used in power plants since it's a very efficient power cycle but it wouldn't work well for the primary power source for a car due to the constant changing power needs. Using it to capture waste heat and charge a battery is a solid plan though.
I think you're going to start seeing these on production vehicles shortly. First will likely be on heavy duty trucks.
This study is a little late though. BMW has had functional prototypes (search for Turbosteamer) for over a decade, and many other manufacturers have already been studying these systems.
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